Our Opinion
There's plenty to see and do including visiting the famous Manneken-Pis fountain and sampling Belgium's two most famous exports, chocolates and beer.
Our time in Brussels was almost spoilt by the way we were treated in an Italian restaurant obviously frequented by people associated with the EU where we were ignored for over an hour without our order being taken.
However, this proved to be a bonus because after we had walked out (refusing to pay even for the drinks we had consumed!) we found another local restaurant where the food was superb.
Our first night in Brussels is something of a blur as our our travel arrangements (as detailed opposite) meant that we were somewhat the worse for wear upon our arrival. Special thanks has to be extended to the staff of Eurostar who returned our passports and travel documents which we had inadvertently left on the train. The photograph below also shows that it is unlikely that two of our number saw a Blackpool tram passing by the window of a Brussels bar that night either!
Further Details
Blackpool - London by First North Western/Virgin Trains
A complete disaster from the outset. Cows on the line meant that our train from Blackpool (and a number thereafter) was cancelled. However, we didn't need to worry (although we didn't know it at the time) because due to another problem, all trains from Preston to London were also cancelled. This resulted in us missing our connection in London. We weren't the only people affected, of course, a fellow traveller on the train from Preston (hereafter known as "The man in the hat") was also heading for the same Eurostar train and allowed us to share his cab in a vain attempt to reach Waterloo in time. He was later rewarded by us allowing him to share our gin!! Very helpful Eurostar staff eventually booked on the next available train to Brussels but this meant having to spend the afternoon in the Chandos in Trafalgar Square!!
London - Brussels by Eurostar
Our first experience using the Channel Tunnel and apart from being somewhat "emotional" due to the experiences described above this was a superb journey, certainly in comparison with anything we had experienced earlier in the day.